Laundry drier



July 20, 1954 w. G. LANDWIER LAUNDRY DRIER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov.6, 1948 mm m NM EA YL m5 w a m 4 0 a ATTUFNEY July 20, 1954 w. G.LANDWIER LAUNDRY DRIER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 6. 1948 [N VENTURWILLIAM E. LAHDWIER ATT DRNEY' July 20, 1954 w. G. LANDWIER LAUNDRYDRIER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed NOV. 6. 1948 INVENTUE "WILLIAM BLANnwmR kM'M AT TUENEI Patented July 20, 1954 UNITED STATES FATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to laundry driers.

In laundry driers of the indoor type, it has been the practice to drivequantities of hot air through clamp laundry in order to evaporatemoisture therefrom. Heat is generally derived from electrical energy;and the operation, for performance within a limited time, requiresrelatively heavy current consumption to provide sufficient heat tooffset the evaporation required during drying.

The present invention is directed toward a cabinet drier in which thesole source of heat is in the form of infra-red radiation, and the heatof evaporation of moisture induced by such radiation is supplied bynatural ventilation of the cabinet from available room atmosphere. Bysuch procedure, there is simulated, to a degree, outdoor drying and thepower requirements for effecting a drying operation are maintained at arelatively low level.

it is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide acabinet drier having suitable provision for supporting laundry thereinand in which an infra-red radiating surface is employed in combinationwith ventilating means.

The invention further has to do with the utilization of infra-redradiating surfaces in the form of tempered glass plates electricallyheated by grids applied thereto and in which the radiating surface is sodisposed as to provide maximum radiation effect upon the laundrysurfaces supported within the cabinet.

The invention further relates to a rack arrangement affordingconvenience in arranging laundry within the cabinet, the rack beingreadily movable into and out of the cabinet for ease of loading andunloading prior to and after the drying operation.

The above and other novel features of the invention will appear morefully hereinafter from following detailed description when taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings. .t is expressly understoodthat the drawings are employed for purposes of illustration only and arenot designed as a definition of the limits of the invention, referencebeing had for this purpose to the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings, in which like reference characters indicatelike parts:

Figure 1 is a transverse vertical section of the cabinet showing thegeneral arrangement of the laundry supports, source of radiant energy,and ventilation Figure 2 is a horizontal section taken through thecabinet above the rack substantially on the line 2-2;

Figure 8 is a transverse section taken substantially on the line 33 ofFigure 1;

Figure i is a transverse broken section taken substantially on the line4-4 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a transverse section taken through the lower portion of thecabinet substantially on the line 55 of Figure 1; and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on the line 6-6 ofFigure 1.

In Figures 1 and 2, there is shown a drier cabinet having a base framecomposed of forward and rearward longitudinal members ii! and i2 andtransversely extending pairs of angle irons each composed of members i4and i6 arranged in slightly spaced relation. Corner posts in the form ofangle irons I8, 20, 22 and 24 extend upwardly from the members [0 and i2and form a support for the end walls 26 and 23 and back wall St. The endwalls and back wall are provided with inturned flanges 32 and 3respectively, along their respective upper edges, upon which ispositioned a top deck 35, the same having a rounded side and forwardedge 38 terminating in an inturned flange 39 adapted for attachment theend flanges 32. The deck has a sloping control panel 42 to the r arthereof and a rear wall 44 having along its lower edge an inturnedflange adapted for supporting upon and attachment to the rear wallflange 34. The deck 36 may extend a short distance forward of theforward edges of the end panels 26 and 28, and the front wall of thecabinet is constituted by a pair of doors 43 and 55B hinged as at 52 andto the corner posts 13 and 20. The doors are suitably rounded as at 56and 58 adjacent the hinges thereof to match the rounded edge 38 andcorners of the top deck 36. The hinges are attached to the doors throughstiffening members so and 62 located inside the curved portions 56 and5c of the door.

The doors extend to within a short distance of the fioor and cooperatewith a lower front panel member 54 extending across the front of thecabinet, the panel member having a forwardly bent upper portion 65corresponding in shape to the over-hanging portion of the top deck. Theforward extension is provided with detent members 58 cooperating withmarginal flanges it on the respective doors to hold the doors in closedposition, and suitable handles such as 12 are provided upon the outerface of the doors to facilitate opening thereof.

In order to support laundry within the cabinet, preferably as byhanging, there is provided a rack composed of a longitudinally extendingmain channel or rack member M from which are supported a plurality offore and aft arranged parallel spaced rack bars 16. The channel member74 extends between the end plates is and 80, each of which is supportedupon the upper ends of a pair of parallel links 82 and 84. Such linksare pivoted at their lower ends between each of the pairs of spacedangle members [4 and is, and the arrangement is such as to permit the 3movement of the rack channel member it from the position shown in Figure1 in full to approximately that appearing in dotted lines, the motion ofthe rack being substantially rectilinear by reason of the parallelogramformed by the parallel links 82 and 84 with the plates I8, 3i! and anglemembers l4 and I6.

To coordinate the movement between the parallel links 82 and 86 at oneend of the cabinet with the similar links at the other end, there isprovided an endless cable 35 riding over end pulleys 88 and S53 andintermediate pairs of spaced pulleys 92 and 95, the latter beingsupported upon vertical axes upon bracket members 96 and 98 secured tothe rear corner posts 22 and 24, and the former pulleys 88 and as beingarranged on horizontal axes and mounted upon brackets I88 and I02 on theforward corner posts I3 and Zll. The cable has interposed along a reachthereof extending between one of the pulleys 92 and 92 a tension springIM to maintain the cable taut. It will be seen that the reaches of thecable extending between the pulley 88 and pulley 9i and pulleys 92 andat are substantially parallel with the end walls 28 and 2 3 of thecabinet and adjacent to the links 32 and 84. The upper reach of thecable extending between pulley 90 and pulleys at is connected to thelink 84 by a swivel pin I06 at one end of the apparatus, and the lowerreach of the cable extending between the pulley 88 and pulleys s2 isconnected to the opposite link as by a similar swivel connection I08.The pulley 88 and pulleys 92 may be located a little higher than pulleys90 and 94 by an amount equal to the diameter of the pulleys 8 8 and 9B.Thus, it will be seen that the movements of the pairs of links 32 and 84are coordinated through the cable so that the channel member M hassubstantially rectilinear movement forward and back in its movement froma position within the cabinet to the dotted line shown (see Figure 1).

The channel member I4 is provided with a plurality of spaced notches IIf: in the upper edge of the forward flange II2 thereof, the notchesbeing adapted to receive the rack bars IS. The rear flange I I 4 of thechannel member M is provided with a plurality of spaced apertures IE6located adjacent the upper edge and immediately behind the notches, theapertures being adapted to receive offset hook ends II8 formed in eachof the rack bars it. The upper edge I253 of the flange I I4 is bentrearwardly to engage the hooks I I8 and stabilize the rack bars 16 aswell as facilitate the removal or insertion of the bars in any desirednumber at suitable spacing for items of laundry to be hung thereon. Therack bars will be seen to be securely held in place by suchconstruction, and yet be removable at will by lifting the forward end ofany particular bar to withdraw the hook IIS from the respective apertureII6. Additionally, the notches and apertures provide in eifect reverseconcave rests and bearing means tending to maintain the bars in parallelforward extending relation.

Diagonal brace members I22 and I24 extend between the corner posts I8and 2G and 2! and 22, respectively, and are provided with forward andrearward stops I26 and I28 for engaging the links 82 and 84 and limitingthe rearward and forward motion of the rack.

Somewhat elevated from the floor level are a pair of longitudinallyextending front and rear panels I36 and 32 having a substantial spacebetween their adjacent edges and secured to the the infra-red platefront panel member 64 and back panel 30, respectively. The spaced edgesthereof are supported on brackets I34 and I36 extending from the anglemembers 14 and IS. The plates form a support for a Z-angle rectangularframe I3 8, the lower flange Hill of which is secured to the plates I3!)and I32 and the upper flange I42 of which supports, by means of spacedside notched pedestals I44 of insulating material preferably, one ormore plate heating elements I46. The heating elements are in the form ofshock resistant glass plates annealed so as to be virtuallynon-breakable. To the under side of the plates are electrical resistancegrids which may be in the form of sprayed aluminum forming a desiredlabyrinth path to provide the desired resistance. Such aluminum grid maybe anodized to prevent deterioration. The resistance of the aluminumgrid, which becomes firmly bonded to the glass, is such as to heat theplates to a temperature of approximately 280 E, to thereby emitinfra-red radiation, and to facilitate such radiation, the glass is sochosen as to transmit as much as 98% of the infra-red radiation soproduced. A transparent conductive resinous material may be applied tothe plate in place of the aluminum grid and utilized as the electricalheating resistance, if desired. A suitable heatresistant insulating filmmay be applied to the under surface of the plates to cover the grid, butthe location of the grid being practically inaccessible renders the needfor such film optional.

It will appear that the ventilating ports Hi8 are provided in the lowerfront panel 64, and that the upper rear wall 44 is provided with similarventilating ports I59 located behind the sloping panel :32, thusproviding a chimney eflect. Air is thus allowed to enter the cabinetthrough the ports I48, move upwardly in the space between the opposededges of the plates I30 and I32, and circulate beneath the glass plateheating element Hi6, thereafter passing around the edges of the platesand rising within the cabinet to finally leave the cabinet through theports I50. The relatively low temperature of the plate affords moderateheating of the air to decrease its relative humidity slightly and assistin absorbing moisture from laundry within the cabinet supported upon therack. The increase in temperature, however, is not such as to causelarge volumes of air to be discharged from the ports lfiii with wastageof heat due to temperature differential between such air and the ambientair surrounding the cabinet. At the same time, I58, substantiallycovering the bottom of the cabinet, is in a position to direct infra-redrays to practically all exposed surfaces of laundry suspended from therack bars within the cabinet. The inside surfaces of the various wallsare preferably reflective, in order to redirect such rays as do notdirectly impinge upon the laundry. Such infra-red rays are beneficial ineffecting direct evaporation action of the moisture contained in thelaundry so that the moisture may be carried. away with the aircirculated through the cabinet without the necessity for substantiallyelevating the temperature of the air entering the cabinet, Thus, throughdirect radiation upon the laundry and such moderate temperature increaseas results from contact of the air with the hot plates, substantialevaporation is effected, resulting in a cooling effect and causing theair discharged from the ports I59 to be not substantially over that ofthe room temperature. As the same time, the natural circulation of airprovides a constant cooling medium for the heater elements, and carriesheat from such plates at a rate such as to maintain the desired platetemperature of approximately 280 F.

Suitable controls may be placed upon the control panel 52, such as aswitch for energizing the infra-red radiation plates, and, if desired, atimer for discontinuing the current flow after a preselected period oftime, the time being selected in accordance with the quantity of laundryplaced within the cabinet, the type of laundry, and the degree ofdampness at the time of loading the cabinet.

While natural circulation of air through the cabinet by reason of thestructure thus described has been found sufficient and highly efficientfor the purposes described, and is preferred, it may be desirable insome instances to provide measured flow of air through the cabinet as bysupplying such air or withdrawing such air by fan means which would havea fixed rate of discharge.

Since the infra-red plates attain a temperature in the range of 280 F.,which is relatively low, it will be seen that the drier may be operatedwithout danger of scorching laundry contained therein. Further, sincethe plates are anhealed and shatter-proof, any slight dripping thereonwill not result in fracture, but will immediately vaporize and becarried off with the circulation of air. The resistance grid being inthe form of sprayed aluminum or the equivalent, on the under orinaccessible side of the plate, assures protection from possible shortcircuiting or bodily harm on the form of electrical shock.

It will thus be seen that there is described a cabinet drier requiring aminimum of heat units for evaporating purposes, in which infra-redradiation is employed and in which laundry may conveniently be hung fordrying out of the way with a minimum of waste space, since it will beappreciated that the cabinet s ructure itself may normally be used as awork table structure, the surfaces thereof being relatively cool at alltimes. At the same time, provision is made for conveniently loading thecabinet and unloading, and for providing differing spacing of thevarious items of laundry to be placed therein.

Although a single embodiment of the invention has been illustrated anddescribed, it is to be understood that the invention is not limitedthereto. As various changes in the construction tion of the limits ofthe invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a dryer, a substantially rectangular cabinet, means constitutingone wall thereof a wide access opening, an inverted horizontal channelrack member located in the upper region of said cabinet and arrangedparallel with said wall, means supporting said channel member forrectilinear movement within said cabinet from a position rearwardthereof to a forward position, the forward flange of said channel membercomprising an elongated rest, and the rear flange member havingdownwardly directed bearing means, and forwardly extending horizontallydisposed support bars resting upon said forward flange and bearingupwardly upon said bearing means, said rack member and bars being bodilymovable from a position wholly within said cabinet to a position withsaid bars extending horizontally outwardly through said access opening.

2. In a dryer, a substantially rectangular cabinet, means constitutingone Wall thereof a wide access opening, an inverted horizontal channel 1ck member located in the upper region of said cabinet and arrangedparallel with said wall, means supporting said channel member forsubstantially rectilinear movement within said cabinet from a positionrearward thereof to a forward position. the forward flange of saidchannel member comprising an elongated rest, and the rear flange memberhaving downwardly directed bearing means, and forwardly extendinghorizontally disposed cantilever support bars resting upon forwardflange and bearing upwardly upon be ring means, said rack member andbeing b 1v movable from a position wholly within said cabinet to aposition with said bars extending horizontally outwardly through saidaccess opening, bars having hooks for removably engaging said bearingmeans, and coordinated means on said rest and bearing means for retaininsaid bars perpendicular to said channel member.

3. In a dryer, a substantially rectangular cabinet, means constitutingone wall thereof a wide access opening, an inverted horizontal channelrack member located. in the upper region of said cabinet arrangedparallel with said wall, means supporting said channel member forsubstantially rectilinear movement within said cabinet from a positionrearward thereof to a forward position, the forward flange of saidchannel member comprising an elongated rest, and the iear member havingdownwardly directed bearin means, forwardly extending horizontallydisposed cantilever support bars resting upon said forward flange andbearing upwardly upon said bearing means, said rack member and barsbeing bodily movable from a position wholly within said cabinet to aposition with said bars extending horizontally outwardly through saidaccess opening, said bars having hooks for removably engaging saidbearing means, and coordinated means on said rest and bearing means forretaining said bars perpendicular to said channel member, said barsdefining a rectangular area substantially bounded by the cabinet, arelatively low temperature infra-red radiant heating means in the formof tempered glass plate means having high infra-red transmission andhaving electrical resistance grids bonded thereto, said heating meansbein disposed in a single horizontal plane, said heating means coveringan area sub stantially commensurate with the area defined by said barsand said heating means being substantially in vertical alignment withthe area of said rack bars and spaced therefrom, and means forventilating said cabinet.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

